Our imaginations create amazing stories about places which remain mysterious. What is more mysterious than seas and deep lakes, covered fog and waves and housing strange creatures? In the oceans swim mermaids, monsters, and mystic gods of ancient times. Oceans cover more than two-thirds or 79% of the earth and are very deep - who knows what could exist?
~Gods of the Sea~
We always try to explain what we do no know. Many people have tried to explain the world in earthly terms, by believing in superhuman-like gods who each rule over certain things. In Greek mythology, Poseidon ruled over the ocean and the island of Atlantis. He rode in a chariot pulled by water horses. His palace was in the ocean and made of coral and jewels. He had many children with many wives (one of whom was Amphitrite, goddess of the sea) and not all of them were in human form. One could change herself into a horse; another, Triton, was a merman. Some were Cyclops or giants.
~Atlantis~
Atlantis is a small continent from Greek mythology. It consisted of eighteen rings alternating between land and sea. The center island was ruled by Atlas, son of Poseidon. Under the rule of the gods, Atlantis became great; unfortunately, the entire island was engulfed by the sea and disappeared. Though many say it is a myth or a story, Plato used it to illustrate his political views.
~Bermuda Triangle~
Stretching from Florida, to Bermuda, the Bermuda Triangle is attributed with the strange disappearances of entire planes and boats, as well as the sunken island of Atlantis (though how it moved from the Mediterranean to the Bermuda Triangle, no one knows). In 1945 Flight 19, a training flight of bombers mysteriously went down over the area. Over 1,700 vessels have been reported missing in the Triangle. In addition, hurricanes and tropical storms occur with alarming frequency.
~Merfolk~
Many sailors have claimed to see merfolk while at sea. These creatures had the body of a human but the tail of a fish. Mermaids are beautiful and seductive, yet innocent and curious. While mermen are strong and keep to themselves, mermaids tend to be very interested in humans. In many folktales, mermen can grant wishes and perform magic. Some mermaids in British tales were described as being giants and even mammoth in size. They are also believed to be able to grant immortality. Merpeople appear with much frequency in tales from many different countries including Denmark and the Philippines.
There have been more than a few accounts of seeing mermaids. One man even claimed to find one in his tuna fish sandwich. Some people were lying or thought they saw something they didn’t. Sometimes animals from the order sirenia such as manatees were mistaken for merfolk, though how they appeared beautiful is unclear. Using parts of fish and monkeys and even papier-mâché people have created many hoaxes.
~The Loch Ness Monster~
For centuries, people have claimed to see creatures in Loch Ness in Scotland. The earliest sighting is noted to being in the 7th century. The phenomena did not take hold of people's imaginations until 1933 when a man claimed to see the monster cross the road in front of his car. There were a few other reports in that year of seeing the monster on land before it reentered the water. In 1934, a photo of the monster’s head and neck was released as proof of Nessie’s existence. However, the picture was revealed as a hoax in 1994.
Many reports fit the description of the now extinct plesiosaur. Other people have said Nessie might be an eel, large invertebrate, some type of mammoth newt, or Kelpie. A Kelpie is a monstrous, mystic sea creature. In Celtic legends the Kelpie, when hungry, would come out of the lake and shape-shift into the form of a horse. The Kelpie always had a dripping mane and cold, clammy skin.
There have been many reports, many hoaxes, and even a society that moved to get Nessie ordained as a real animal. The society was known as Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB.) It was dissolved in 1972, ten years after starting in 1962. It had over 1,000 members.
~Sea Monsters~
(from http://library.thinkquest.org/21035/seamonst.html)
- Asparas: Water nymphs of the Native American tradition. They often appear playing the flute.
- Aughisky: An Aughisky is an Irish water-horse. It is said that they come out of the sea and gallop along the shore, or sometimes through fields. Anyone who could catch one and lead it away from the shore, it would be a wonderful mount. But if it sees the sea it would gallop back into the waters, carrying the rider with it and ripping it to pieces.
- Blue Men of the Minch: They used to inhabit the eastcoast, particularly the straights between Long Island and Shiant Island and were known for wrecking passing ships. The only way to save the ship is for the captain to talk to them in rhyme and get the last word. They live in underwater caves and were ruled by a chieftain.
- Bunyip: Monstrous creatures from Aboriginal land. The bunyip were rumored to live in swamps, lakes, and rivers of the Austrailian Outback. They are believed to bring disease and are roughly the size of a cow. Usually the bunyip leave humans alone but when their source of food is lacking, they will take humans under the water to their death.
- Bucca: Bucca is a Cornish spirit, possibly once a fertility god because fishermen used to leave fish and spilled ale for them so that the Bucca would give a good catch.
- Charybdis: A whirlpool monster featured in Homer's Odyssey. Charybdis would down the ocean three times a day, then spit it back up. In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus lost his ship and men to Charybdis. Odysseus managed to save himself by grabbing onto a fig tree that grew over Charybdis's mouth.
- Chrodh Mara: Chrodh Mara are Highland water-cattle that are not nearly as dangerous as the Highland water-horse. They are hornless, dun in color and their ears are rounded. If a water-bull mates with one of a heard of earthly cow the stock is a great improvement but a water-cow joins and earthly herd she must be forever watched for if not she will make for a fairy hill, which will open for her, the cow herd will follow her and they will be lost in the hill.
- Each Usige: These Highland water-horses are fierce, much more so than any other water-horse. Generally, the Each Usige are beautiful horses. But beware! If you mount the horse it will carry you off at great speed into the water where only your liver will be eaten. Do not even touch the spirit for it is said that the skin of an each usige is sticky and you are not able to tear yourself away from it after touching it.
- Glaistig: Half human and half goat, this beautiful female water spirit tries to hide her goat half under a green robe. She invites men to dance with her, then she drinks their blood. She is, however, kind to children and the elderly. She even herds cattle for farmers at times.
- Hydra: A many-headed serpent creature of Greek myths. Whenever a Hydra head was cut off, two more would grow back in its place. One of the heads was immortal, and could not be killed by conventional means. To further complicate matters, the Hydra's blood was poisonous, burning and chewing through whatever it touched. The Hydra was killed by the Greek hero Hercules, who cut off the Hydra's heads, burning the stumps with a torch. The immortal head was cut off and buried, where it sleeps to this day.
- Jormandgund: The World-Serpent of Norse mythology, Jormandgund was a monstrous serpent encircling Midgard, the world of men. Jormangund was the spawn of the evil god Loki and the witch Angerboda. He is fated to kill and be killed by Thor, the World's Defender.
- Kappa: A kappa is a Japanese water spirit that pulls children into the water, drowning them. They are said to be very intelligent and feed on cucumbers and blood. A kappa's head must always be wet and they cannot survive outside of water for very long.
- Kelpie: In old Scotland, the Kelpie is an evil water devil that lurks in lakes and rivers. It usually takes the shape of a young horse.
- Naiads: Water nymphs were depicted as having human, not mermaid, form. They could only survive as long as the fresh water source they inhabited did not dry up.
- Ningyo: Japanese in origin. Typically depicted as a fish with only a human head that cries pearls instead of tears. A woman who can catch and eat a Ningyo gains eternal youth and beauty.
- Nixe: A Norse water spirit that lures people into the water in which they reside. Male nixes can assume any shape while females are just beautiful women with the tail of a fish. Nixes are thought to be harmless and friendly in some quarters but are considered as malignant in others.
- Kraken: A octopus-like monster of colossal proportions, the Kraken was a product of Norse mythology. The Kraken had a hundred arms, some topped by serpentine heads. When the monster sighted a ship, it would excrete a black liquid that poisoned the sea. Then the Kraken would grab on to the doomed ship, dragging it down into the depths. Scientists now think that the giant squid, the largest living invertebrate, inspired the Kraken myths.
- Rân: Queen of the sea and consort of Aegir, the Sea God. Ran is queen of the undines, or mermaids, and therefore known for her music, her ability to see the future, her spells of enchantment and her great beauty. The souls of those who have drowned are said to go into her realm. She is the patron of girls and young women who aren't married. Ran's daughters are the proverbial "nine waves of the sea", and the entrance to her abode is through the Maelstrom, the vast whirlpool said by legends to exist somewhere in the higher attitudes of the North Sea.
- Roane: Roane is the Gaelic name for seals, but the people of Highland used to believe that these seals were not animals but faerie people. It was believed that they wore the skins to pass through water and are known to have been one of the kindest faeries.
- Rusalka: The water spirit created when a woman drowns.
- Selkies, or Selchi: Half seal rather than half fish. Selkies are the seal people of Orkney and Shetland. It is not the common seal that they think of as a faerie in disguise, rather they believe it is the sea-lions, crested seals and all of the larger creatures are of a faerie nature. They are believed to be faerie people who live on dry land near the sea or on lonely skerries and wear sealskins to move through water easily. They were thought to have been Fallen Angels and tend to be very beautiful.
- Undine: From Teutonic folklore, female water spirits that love to associate with humans, even to the point that they join in during the merry-making of the humans.
- Vodnik: Originating from Slavic folklore, Vodniks are water-demons that began their existance after a child has been drowned. They lure people into the water where they suffocate them, and either take on the form of a green haired human or a fish.
- Water Leaper: Water Leapers are tailed, winged, toad like creatures. They lurk in Welsh lakes and prey on fishermen.
People have always been, and continue to be fascinated by the waters, sea, and ocean.
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